In this open market global economy driven by Capitalism, the world at large has produced immense wealth in the last three decades or so, much of which is attributable to the wealth produced by international trade. World trade constitutes almost 58% of the world GDP, and it is due to this humongous wealth creation that we see an increase in per capita income and a decrease in poverty in the world. While the World Trade Organization sets the parameters for international trade, it is the World Customs Organization through its 183 Member States that ensures seamless trade across the borders at the same time keeping the world safe, secure, and peaceful. Like other Customs administrations, Pakistan Customs has been tasked to perform hugely important functions which are sometimes even more essential than enforcement of global trading rules. It is Pakistan Customs that remains at the frontline at borders, seaports, airports, and on the highways to safeguard our country from the menace of smuggling of contrabands, drugs, currency, liquor, pornography, etc. It leads our country’s efforts in combating commercial cargo smuggling to protect our industry and hence secure jobs. It is on the strength of this protection and growth in our industry, that we can dream of a Pakistan where exports become the mainstay of our GDP bringing forth precious foreign exchange to satisfy our growing import demands. It is so very reassuring to witness that Pakistan Customs with the help of other law enforcement agencies has been able to thwart smuggling to a considerable amount, which was a huge challenge for the country. Therefore, Pakistan Customs is responsible for ensuring safe transit routes through our territory connecting our ports, airports, and land customs stations to the regional countries, and connecting Pakistan to Central Asia and beyond. FBR aims to enable Pakistan to become a logistics hub by connecting the three economic corridors running through Pakistan; CPEC, and the other two Central Asian Republics Economic Corridors through Torkham and Chaman.
World trade constitutes almost 58% of the world GDP, and it is due to this humongous wealth creation that we see an increase in per capita income and a decrease in poverty in the world.
Pakistan Customs has taken upon itself the mandate to embrace technology and is very conscious of the fact that without digital transformation, we would remain vulnerable and uncompetitive. This year, the WCO theme for International Customs Day is “Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem” which envisions a professional data-driven culture as a building block for modern Customs administrations. This theme is not only in line with the initiatives that have already been undertaken by Pakistan Customs but is what FBR constantly strives for. It is an undeniable reality that Pakistan Customs’ role is constantly evolving and it has proved itself up to the mark in responding to the changing nature of border management. Pakistan Customs is serving as the guardian of Pakistan’s borders against the movement of contraband goods, as well as, a major revenue contributing agency. Pakistan Customs is handling legitimate annual trade worth more than US$ 80 billion. During the financial year 2020-21, Pakistan Customs has shown growth of 20% in the collection of Customs Duty besides collecting 45% of the total revenue collected by FBR under the head of all duty and taxes at the import stage. During the first six months of the current financial year, besides showing growth of 45% in the collection of customs duty, Pakistan Customs has collected at import stage 51% of the total revenue collected by FBR. Cognizant of the importance of technology and the role played by a data-driven culture, Pakistan Customs has undertaken several initiatives to reduce the cost and increase the ease of doing business. The most important of these is Pakistan Single Window which provides a single entry point for all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements in line with international best practices. It is quite important to mention that on completion, Pakistan Single Window (PSW) project will integrate 74 plus government entities and Port communities into a single platform which will be a gigantic step towards import-export facilitation and a game-changer for trade facilitation in the region.
Likewise, for further facilitation of the ever-increasing volume of international trade, the Compliance Risk Management (CRM) Regime has also been strengthened. The CRM regime is the management of compliant and non-compliant traders based on risk evaluation criteria. It has been successfully implemented across Pakistan and covers all types of air, land, and seaborne cargoes. At the front-end, the CRM is dependent on an automated Risk Management System (RMS) for swift clearances; whereas at the back-end, the Directorate General of Post Clearance Audit has been established to help undertake audits to prevent tax evasion without holding cargos at ports and borders. Its effective implementation has enabled Pakistan Customs to raise the ratio of low-risk cargo through the green channel this year from 44% to 54% in imports and from 75% to 85% in exports and contributed to the improvement of Pakistan’s global ranking under the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business survey from 171 in the year 2016 to 111 in 2020 under trading across border indicators. It has also been collaborating with our international counterparts to foster a collaborative culture amongst customs administrations; and it gives me great pleasure to share that Pakistan Customs successfully inaugurated the Air Cargo Control Unit (ACCU) at Islamabad International Airport under the UNODC-WCO Container Control Program (CCP), being the third airport to do so after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and Allama International Airport, Lahore. The Unit, including officers of Pakistan Customs, has received training from UNODC and WCO in profiling, risk analysis, targeting, and leveraging data in an inter-agency setup and will definitely play an effective role to stop illicit loads tactfully concealed in an apparently legitimate consignment.
It is significant to mention that a separate Directorate General of National Targeting Centre (NTC) has also been established as a National Single Window for enforcement for all LEAs under the lead of Pakistan Customs for integration of anti-smuggling with a central data base. The Integrated Transit Trade Management System (ITTMS) at the border crossing points of Torkham, Chaman, and Wagha under the CAREC- RIBS Program funded by the Asian Development Bank with Pakistan Customs as the lead executing agency is another milestone achieved. The project aims at realizing the Government of Pakistan’s vision of becoming a transit hub for effective regional connectivity and enhanced trade by connecting the CAREC region with the sea as well as South-East Asian economies. Furthermore, the National Nuclear Detection Architecture (NNDA) has also been established to prevent the illicit trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive materials.
Pakistan Customs is the lead anti-smuggling agency that is working proactively to curtail smuggling besides fulfilling its international obligations to stop the movement of illicit goods. The recently adopted counter-smuggling governance model is an excellent example of interagency cooperation which has yielded positive results, thereby boosting government revenue on the import stage and local industrialization. In the month of December 2021 smuggled goods worth 4.3 billion Rupees have been seized. Similarly, during Jul-Dec of the current FY 2021-22, illicit goods amounting to Rs. 28 billion have been seized, including Non-Custom Paid (NCP) vehicles, betel nuts, fabrics, cigarettes, auto-parts, electronic goods, POL products, Gold/silver bars/jewelry, and other miscellaneous goods. It has seized five big consignments of narcotics at Torkham in the last three weeks, with an estimated value of 1540 million Rupees. The seized narcotics containing Heroin, Hashish, Opium, Ice, etc. were concealed in special cavities of the POL tankers and floor of the trucks. Anti-social enforcement has also been initiated by Pakistan Customs resulting in the seizure of 26,466 bottles of liquor. In a nutshell, Pakistan Customs as the strong arm of FBR continues to fortify the economic frontiers of Pakistan, day in and day out.
The writer is a civil servant by profession, a writer by choice and a motivational speaker by passion!